"I am monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute." Then another of the party sung "A Life on the Ocean Wave;" and just as he reached the concluding lines the whistle of the steamer sounded, the engines came to a sudden stop, and the meeting, adjourned in a body to the deck to see what was the matter. Lights gleamed on the shore and on ships at anchor near them; they saw at a glance that there was nothing alarming in the situation, and hardly needed the assurance of the captain, who came aft just then, that they were in front of Pondicherry. CHAPTER XXIII. SIGHTS IN PONDICHERRY.--THE FRENCH EAST INDIES.--VOYAGE TO MADRAS. The steamer lay quietly at anchor during the night, though she rolled somewhat from the motion of the waves that sweep almost constantly from the Bay of Bengal. The anchorage is only an open roadstead, and sometimes the surf beats on the sandy beach with such force that landing is next to impossible. There is a small river emptying into the sea at Pondicherry, but it is only accessible to native craft, which draw but little water, and to the smallest of foreign vessels. In the morning all the passengers went on shore, with a warning from the captain to return before noon, as he should sail for Madras a few minutes after the sun had passed the meridian. There was hardly any wind blowing, and the surf was quite light on the beach: our three friends united with one of the other passengers in hiring a boat rowed by eight men, which was to take them ashore and back again to the steamer for the aggregate sum of four dollars. As soon as the four were seated in the stern of the craft the natives pulled vigorously at their oars, and shot the boat ahead with satisfactory velocity; they accompanied their rowing with a song which was sung by the two sides of rowers alternately, and then by the whole crew in chorus. The words, as near as the boys could make them out, were about as follows: "Ahee! ma wala deery-- Ahee! ja nala meery-- Ahee! wala, nala, jan!" [Illustration: GOING ASHORE.] As they reached the shore the boat rose on the crest of a wave, and the instant she touched the sand the crew sprung out and seized her sides to run her up the beach before the next wave could arrive. Nobody received the least wetting, but the shore was so damp with the spray and surf that walking was not desirable. The boatmen stepped into position to receive the passengers on their backs, and our friends went ashore in a manner that was not altogether dignified, though decidedly comfortable. [Illustration: NATIVES IN THE SURF.]